Let me just start by saying, these Salted Caramel Chocolate Bars will blow your mind! They have a warm, toasty, crunchy, oat and almond cookie base, with a layer of warm, golden, caramel, that gently seeps down into the cookie base, and then it’s all finished with a smooth layer of milk chocolate on top.

For how freakin’ good these Salted Caramel Chocolate Bars are, I honestly didn’t have much of a plan when creating this recipe, all I knew is that the bottom needed to be an oatmeal cookie, the middle caramel, and the top chocolate, but what the proportions would be, I didn’t know… Sometimes I just start throwing together a bunch of ingredients and hope that I find myself along the way. (Yes, that is an ode to Michael Scott, if you got the original reference, you win.) The good news is, my very vague vision for these bars, was enough to get us where we needed to be, because wow oh wow oh wow are these bars good! They might be one of the most addicting things on the planet! They’re sooo hard to stop eating.

The base of these bars is fairly simple to create, much like an oatmeal cookie, but about 1000x better, with warm toasted almonds adding an extra level of crunch and flavor.

The middle layer, is probably the trickiest part of the recipe — the caramel. But don’t worry, if you remember this little trick, you’ll nail it… just keep stirring! As Dory says in Finding Nemo “Just keep swimming!” we say “Just keep stirring!” and you won’t have to worry about the caramel burning.

The final layer of these Salted Caramel Chocolate Bars is the chocolate. This is the simplest layer, but the layer that adds the finishing touch, bringing the cookie base, and the caramel all together, in one harmonious note.

That’s all you need, three simple layers to make the gorgeous bars!

How to make Salted Caramel Chocolate Bars

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For the Cookie Base

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Add the chopped almonds to a medium sauce pan, toast the almonds over medium heat until they start to turn golden. About 5 or 6 minutes.
3. In a mixing bowl, stir together the oats, flour, baking soda, toasted almonds, salt, and sugar.
4. Then add in the melted butter, vanilla extract, and peanut butter. Stir together until the ingredients are well mixed.
5. Line the bottom of 7×11″ baking pan with parchment paper.
6. Press the oatmeal cookie dough into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 20 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven and let cool for ten minutes.

For the Caramel Layer

1. Add the sugar to a medium sauce pan over medium heat. The sugar will begin to clump together and then melt into a golden liquid.
2. As soon as the sugar is liquified, stirring constantly, add in the butter. As soon as the butter is completely melted, add in the heavy cream. When you add the heavy cream, the caramel will bubble up. Keep stirring, as soon as the caramel starts descending in height, remove it from the heat. Stir in the vanilla extract, and salt.
3. Let the caramel cool about 10 minutes.
4. Pour the caramel layer over the oatmeal cookie base. Use a spatula to spread the caramel sauce over the cookie base, until all of the cookie base is covered.
5. Place the caramel and cookie base into the freezer to cool and set, about 30 minutes.

For the Chocolate Layer

1. In a microwave safe bowl, combine the chocolate chips and the half and half.
2. Microwave for one minute. Stir together the chocolate chips and half and half until smooth. Microwave it for an additional 15 seconds, to melt it a little more.
3. Pour the melted chocolate on top of the caramel layer and use a spatula to spread it smoothly over the top.
4. Place the Salted Caramel Chocolate Bars into the freezer for another 30 minutes, until the chocolate is set.
5. Gently lift the parchment paper and the Salted Caramel Chocolate Bars out of the baking pan. Use a knife to cut the bars up, and enjoy.